Page 32 of Don't Trust the Cowboy

“Did he say why he did that?”

“No. But that’s because I didn’t ask.”

She scoffs. “He probably did it while he was blowing his wad.”

I lift a hand, hearing enough. “Okay. Don’t you have a class to get to?”

“I do, actually.”

“I’ll walk you out.” I say, as she grabs the rest of her French fries, leaving mine untouched. “I’ll see you later.”

“Good luck.” She says with a smile, and she gives me a hug. “I’ll send you a link for a good vibrator.”

My eyes bulge as I look over my shoulder. Thankfully, Billy is inside the new house, and he can’t see me. “Would you shut up???” I ask through gritted teeth.

“You’re going to need one with that fine ass walking around. And you best be telling him he can’t walk around with just a towel on, either. No double standard, right?”

Truth be told, he’s as sexy as hell in just a towel, especially when he lifted it up slightly, so I could see his scar. As if I wasn’t wet enough. I try to divert my thoughts by heading back into the office and doing more work. After I finish the fries, I start doing some online schoolwork, and before I know it, it’s almost time to head to my other job. Billy comes in just in time for me to brief him on some of the resumes I’ve collected.

“Oh, excellent.” Billy says, relieved. “I’ve got Nash and Levi Paxton starting tomorrow, too. I’m going to have them start building the new barn.”

“Great! That’s so exciting!” I smile. I want so badly to kiss him. I haven’t seen him all day practically, and I kind of missed him. He’s all smiles, too.

“You heading out to work?” He asks me.

“Yes. I’ll be back late again, so don’t wait up.”

I watch his face change, like he’s disappointed. But I try to pretend that he’s just tired. “I’ll wait up.” He smiles, giving me a wink. I grin at him, staring at his lips, not really caring if he notices. And then I get into my car and drive to school, with the biggest grin on my face.

...but it’s soon spoiled.

Chapter 11

Billy

It’slate.ButI don’t want to seem like her daddy, sending her a text, wondering when she’s going to be home. I want like hell for her to not work both jobs, and just work here, for me, but I can’t do that without seeming territorial. I can pay her enough for full-time, but I know that she wants to be independent, so working two jobs to save for a place of her own is in order for her. Plus, that’s part of what I really like about her. She’s independent. She’s not some needy chick that whines all the time about what she hasn’t got. Nothing worse than that.

And as much as I promised her that I’d be up when she got home, I can’t stay awake any longer. Sleep doesn’t always come easily for me, either, so when I’m tired, I like to take it while I can get it. I head off to bed, taking a shower before I go, and I hear nothing, once again. And then I hear some strange cries coming from her room, and I bolt out of bed, wearing just my briefs, but I stop dead in my tracks, when I see that her bedroom door is closed. The sounds are almost inhuman, and then I recognize a clear moan, a moan from a woman that I haven’t heard in a long time. “Just...what are you doing in there, little girl?” I murmur to myself.

Feeling brave and slightly curious, I slowly, quietly, open her door, knowing full well that I’ve just bought myself a one-way ticket to hell. Piper is lying in bed, on her side, having some sort of erotic dream, clearly. From the sounds of it, I thought she was masturbating, the way I was last night, but she did mention that she isn’t experienced. Although, to her, that could mean many things. Not sure if I should wake her or not, I stand there, wondering if women are like men, with wet dreams. As she moans in her sleep, my cock twitches, and I realize that I need to get the hell away from this. It’s creepy, it’s wrong, and if she finds me here, she’s going to think that I’m the sickest dude that ever walked the face of the earth.

I head back into my room, finding myself with the same problem I was faced with last night. Problem is, I can still hear her doing her thing in there, and it’s such a fucking turn-on, I have to put my fan on high to drown it out. I want like hell to jerk off again, but that’s just too twisted and sick, getting off on that, so I force my eyes shut and go to sleep. But this time, it’s not erotic dreams that wake me up.

“Barnes! Get down!” One of my battalion mates says. Our Lieutenant Colonel has been shot dead and Striggs, my battalion mate, has decided that he’s next in charge. But my buddy, my longtime friend, Wade Dire, has been shot, and he’s lying there, left for dead. I won’t leave him, despite our whole battalion being under siege. I stare back at Striggs. His face is as ruddy as I can imagine mine is. If it weren’t for his stark blue eyes, I wouldn’t even be able to place him, under all the blood. “Come back! You’re going to get hit!” He shouts over the din of gunfire.

Everyone I’ve ever cared about is right here. All my friends, the few of them that I earned while being here, are dead. Wade Dire is the last one. I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose him. I’d rather die with him than leave him, and live on, knowing that nobody else gives a flying fuck about me. Not my family, not any of my hometown friends, nobody. As I slide on my belly, inching my way to him, I can see his hand still moving. The sumbitch is still alive. I’m so happy, it gives me another burst of energy, and I’m able to reach his hand. With every ounce of strength I have, I drag his body closer and closer to me, until he’s close enough that I can protect him from further injury, by turning myself into a human shield, as I lift him and run like I’m possessed, to find shelter.

My battalion hides in the underground barracks, where we tried to escape from, before we got hit by enemy fire, and I ease Dire down to them, where we can care for him as best as we can, until we can get help. After some water gets into him and someone applies a tourniquet to his wound, the fire ceases, and Wade’s eyes finally open. “Jesus Christ, man, I thought you were dead.” I scoff, wiping my brow with the back of my arm.

“I thought I was, too.”

“He nearly got himself killed coming after you, man.” Striggs comments sourly. “He could have gotten us all killed.”

“I’m not leaving my buddy. No deal.” I say, tousling Dire’s hair.

“Barnes! Go see what’s happening out there!” Striggs says, annoyed. I don’t like his attitude, but I’ll let it go, considering that he’s the one helping Dire now.

I crawl my way up the barracks again and see the enemy tank heading in the opposite direction. Curious, I see another member of my battalion, lying on his back, but I’m not sure if he’s moving. I shout down to them in the barracks. “I’m going in for a closer look!”

---